RATP trials its vision of tomorrow’s bus stop

RATP, the Parisian public transport operator, has launched a bus stop of the future project as part of the Europe-wide EBSF project that is being co-ordinated by UITP. The bus stop programme extends RATP’s own Osmose project that aims to showcase the transport travelling environment of tomorrow.

Over a five-month period, the concept bus stop will be tested on Boulevard Diderot, close to Paris’s Gare de Lyon railway station. The bus stop is intensively used by three daytime bus routes as well as five night bus services.

It has been designed to blend into the urban environment, with a ‘transport facade’ and an ‘urban facade’ with each side catering for their respective user. The stop is completely modular and its size can therefore be tailored to specific locations.

Designed by urban design specialist Marc Aurel, the stop features a number of information screens, improved signage

to enhance accessibility and advertising panels. However, there are also some innovations too. These include and ticket vending machine; space for mobile retailers such as coffee carts; a self service electric bike hire station; free wireless internet access and improved space and seating for bus users.

Some of the more innovative features include a free library; a central section that is heated slightly in colder weather to ensure a mild sensation of warmth; and sound ambiances that are not broadcast through speakers, but through the glass of the vertical sections. A soft musical tune, composed by Michel Redolfi, is also broadcast when the stop senses that a bus is approaching.